| 2025 Schedule Notes – WE are SOLD OUT of Spring Nucs. Nuc pick-ups will be available after May 11th. We will email you when pick-up days have been confirmed after the Massachusetts Bee Inspectors have approved them for distribution. We have sold out of Spring Nucs. Queens are still available for June. If you pre-ordered Nucs and queens, we will contact you when they are ready for pickup. Due to increased demand, I am not keeping a waitlist. Check at the end of May to confirm we have extra Nucs available. 2025 Workshops and Beekeeping Classes: * I am offering beginning beekeeping classes in March 2025. This is a four-session series focused on the first-time beekeeper. See the workshop page for details. * Also new this season will be a workshop dedicated to managing the Russian Honey Bee. Russian bees have many advantages that can only be utilized through proper management. This will provide guidance in working with Russian bees. Completed: October 21st, 2024 6:30 – 8:30 PM. Dan Conlon will talk on Wintering to Improve Spring Colonies. Franklin County Bee Association – Second Congregational Church, Greenfield, Massachusetts. Dan will review Winter preparation, honeybee behaviors that help them survive the stress of winter, and what they need to grow their population and stay healthy in the Spring. Completed: This November 2024 the Russian Honeybee Breeders Association will hold its Annual meeting in Amherst, Massachusetts. INVITATION TO BEEKEEPERS You are Invited to Attend our Russian Honeybee Program. RHBA members and researchers from the ARS-USDA Honeybee Genetics Lab will present topics on the selection of the Russian Honeybee, and the work of the Russian Honeybee Breeders Association. Where: The University of Massachusetts, Amherst Campus Location: Campus Center Building, Room 165 Time: 9 AM – 1 PM (Registration opens at 8:30 AM) When: Saturday, November 16th, 2024 Park in the University Parking Garage (on the Hotel entrance level) From the Campus Center lobby go downstairs to room 165. Discounted parking vouchers will be provided to attendees at the meeting. The program is free and open to anyone interested in the Russian Honeybee, RHBA management, and current progress in selection to improve mite tolerance and disease resistance. ———————————————————- December 1st, 2024 – We will post the new dates and topics for 2025 Beekeeping classes and workshops. Also a new series on ZOOM. ————————————————————– December 2024 – Taking orders for Spring Nucs and Queens. ————————————————————- We sell and produce Russian Honeybees as Certified by the Russian Honeybee Breeders Association. Warm Colors Apiary is the only Northeastern Certified Apiary raising Russian honeybees approved by the RHBA. |
Welcome to the Warm Colors Apiary website. WCA produces and sells honey, pure beeswax candles, and products using honey and beeswax. We provide pollination services to local orchards and farms. Beekeepers can purchase queens, and honeybees and attend workshops in the Warm Colors bee yards. In other words, most activities involving honeybees happen at our apiary.
We continue to sell directly from our Warm Colors Apiary location. We conduct sales of honey products, Bees, and Queens by appointment. Call 413-665-4513 to place an order for honey, candles, or Russian Bees & Queens. We are currently scheduling pickups as orders become available. We will do our best to accommodate your schedule. You will be called back to confirm a time and day.
We specialize in Russian Queens and spring Nucs as members of the Russian Honeybee Breeders Association. All our Queens come from Apiaries’ “Certified” by the RHBA Board of Directors annually. Warm Colors has been a “certified” apiary since 2016. We are not shipping single Queens at this time. WCA Queens will be available in June 2024. Email Dan at warmcolors@verizon.net to request an order form for Nucs & Queens. Nucs are now available for pickup.
Looking for more information about the Russian honeybee and the Russian Honeybee breeding program’s history? I suggest reading “The Russian Honeybee” by Thomas Rinderer and Steven Coy. You can purchase a copy on Amazon, or better yet buy directly from Steven Coy and ask for a signed copy. Call: 601-716-3080, or email: Steven@coybeecompany.com to ask for the book.
Watch a video interview of Dan Conlon on WGBY (September 2019)
Warm Colors Apiary was founded in 2000 to produce regional honey from flowers in western Massachusetts. Located on eighty acres of woodland, open fields, and wetlands, the land provides a variety and abundance of nectar & pollen plants that bloom from early spring to late fall. Having a location with flowering plants blooming successively throughout the warm months makes our apiary ideal for honey production and the raising of honeybees.
Our mission is to develop, test, and use beekeeping methods that improve the health of the honeybee. Through selective breeding, we endeavor to manage a sustainable apiary system that minimizes the use of chemicals and employs the natural defenses and heritable behaviors shown to improve the honeybee’s mite tolerance and resistance to disease.
Our goals include raising honeybees capable of surviving the rigors of a New England winter and having the individual & social immunities to withstand the stresses associated with honeybee decline. Our work focuses on using the best available breeding stock, providing natural sources of forage and nutrition, and the early detection and prevention of disease and pests. Our long-range goal is proactive management that reduces stress and the resulting problems before they become too serious to correct.
BEEKEEPING EVENTS
Beekeeper Events: The Franklin County Beekeepers’ Association. Visit the FCBA website www.Franklinmabeekeepers.org for current information. Meetings are scheduled for the third Monday of each month 6:30 PM- 8:30 PM. We are currently meeting at the Second Congregational Church, Greenfield, MA.
Visit the Franklin County Bee Association’s website for up-to-date meeting information. These events are open to all interested people. Membership to FCBA is $10. individual and $15. for a family. Visitors are always welcome.
- Dan talks with Denise Schwartz about the importance of insects to our environment and future. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/where-have-all-the-insects-gone-with-denise-schwartz/id1713761468?i=1000662766674
- Dan Conlon interview on “Beekeeping Today” with Kim Flottum and Jim Tew: Dan Conlon: It’s All About The Russians (Russian honey bees, that is)
- Warm Colors Apiary received the 2018 “Local Hero Award” (farmer of the year) from CISA (Community Involved in Sustainable Agriculture) and a Congressional Award recognizing Warm Colors Apiary for our outstanding and invaluable service to the community from Congressman James McGovern. Bonita & I appreciate these honors from people and organizations we respect and support. CISA and Congressman McGovern promote nutrition, farms, and access to fresh foods for all Massachusetts residents. We share their philosophy that all people deserve fresh, nutritious food. We thank CISA and Congressman McGovern for their ongoing commitment to making local food available to all citizens.
Knowledge + Management = healthy bees.
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